Revenues up but profits flat at accounting and consulting firm Deloitte

Steve Williams, senior partner in Scotland and Northern Ireland, says the firm has a 'completely new range of capabilities' north of the Border (Image: Chris Watt)

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Deloitte has hailed a “transformative 12 months” in Scotland following a seventh consecutive year of revenue growth across the accountancy firm's UK operations.

Turnover during the year to the end of May rose to £3.38bn, up from £3.04bn in the previous 12 months. However, distributable profits remained flat at £608m, with average profit per equity partner of £865,000.

Following the Market Gravity deal, along with the opening of its Greenhouse and Digital Studio in Edinburgh the previous year, headcount across Deloitte's Scottish offices stands at 602. That includes 32 partners and 56 directors.

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The firm is seeking to position itself firmly within the technology and fintech sectors. Steve Williams, senior partner in Scotland and Northern Ireland, said the firm has added a “completely new range of capabilities” to its offering.

“The opening of the Deloitte Greenhouse was pivotal moment for our Scottish practice, a culmination of months of hard work that underlines our commitment to enabling our clients to develop digital and physical products that will help change their business,” he said.

“We plan to keep recruiting and developing this area of the practice, and use the facility to help the growing tech sector realise its full potential.”

Across the UK, consulting revenue grew by 13.6 per cent to £859m, while audit and risk advisory was up 13.1 per cent to £932m. Tax was up by 5.7 per cent to £691m and financial advisory grew by 1.5 per cent on a like-for-like basis to £459m.

Revenues generated by Deloitte Switzerland grew by 14.4 per cent to £439m.

Chief executive David Sproul said it was a good performance in a “complex and uncertain market” buffeted by Brexit and the elections in the US and the UK.

“Consulting has continued to see significant demand for technology-enabled business transformation and there has been further strong growth in Deloitte Digital, our creative digital consultancy,” Sproul said.

“The firm won a series of major audits this year, including BAE Systems, BP, Centrica and GlaxoSmithKline, which has taken our share of the FTSE 100 audit market to 26 per cent and we saw further success in the FTSE 250, private and international markets.”